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Planet Protector Packaging
Winner of the 2022 Agriculture & Regional Development Award and the Gold Award at the 34th Banksia Sustainability Awards. Visit the Banksia website at banksiafdn.com for more information about our Awards Programs.
Their innovative WOOLPACK packaging solutions are reusable, compostable, thermally stable, and unique in the packaging sector, utilising wool as a polystyrene alternative.
Without a healthy ocean there is no “us”. Life is inextricably linked to a healthy and functioning ocean, yet each year 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean with 42% coming from the packaging industry. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is amongst the worst plastic impacting our waterways and oceans.
As of FYI2021, PPP's positive impacts are:
- The elimination of 7.5 million polystyrene boxes.
- The diversion of 3500 tonnes of waste wool from landfill.
- The generation of $7 million new income for farmers.
As they successfully scale their operations from their NSW base, their goal is to rebuild the Australian wool processing industry by setting up a new facility to create an onshore sovereign capability to sustainably process wool in NSW. This will help them reduce their carbon footprint and mitigate their reliance on imports.
Additionally, they are working with the University of Wollongong to develop compacting machinery to further reduce shipping volume for freight. Their business model is based on disruption, innovation, and leadership.
Planet Protector Packaging exemplifies this by...
Removing EPS from our waterways with compostable WOOLPACK solutions, and the continual development of new WOOLPACK product lines. Some of their unique solutions include Vaccine Protector, now approved by Medsafe (authority for the New Zealand Health Ministry) and being used to rollout Pfizer vaccine in NZ, and Lobster Protector, 2020 Gold winner in the Australasian Packaging Innovation and Design Awards (PIDA) category and winner in 3 categories in 2021 World Star Packaging Awards.
PPP is already meeting the NSW Government’s 7 Strategic Circular Economy Principles of sustainable management of resources, valuing resource productivity, design out waste and materials, innovate new solutions for resource efficiency, create new circular economy jobs, and foster behaviour change through education and engagement.
Led by Australia’s first-ever Laureate (South East Asia and Oceania 2020) with the Cartier Women’s Initiative, Joanne Howarth, PPP is driven by the goals of ending our ocean waste crisis, accelerating a global transition to sustainable packaging and a circular economy whilst generating new revenue for Aussie sheep farmers and strengthening our rural communities with the WOOLPACK.
